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Sunday, November 18, 2007

What Time Is It?

If I had to rely on any of these watches I'd always be late because not one of them works. I believe that all of them could be repaired and they all need a good cleaning but it's one of those things that I just never seem to get around to and even if I had them repaired they'd just end up back at the bottom of my jewelry box.

The wrist watch originally belonged to Mary Kelly Berry, my paternal grandmother. She died in 1970 and the watch was put aside for me. I don't remember exactly when it was given to me but it was probably about 1976. I don't remember ever seeing her wear it. I've never worn it and probably never will, because the face is too small to read, but it's one of the many things that I just can't part with.

I'm not certain who was the original owner of the pocket watch. I think it belonged to Kimberly Berry, my grandfather, but it may have been my my father's. When Dad died in 2000 it is one of the many things that came home with me. Maybe my nephew or one of my grandson's will be interested in having it one day. I should get it in to jeweler to be opened to see just how old it is. Waltham stopped making watches in the 1950's. Since it has a 24 hour face it seems likely that it was Dad's, either from his Navy days or time working for the railroad. There were watches made for the Canadian railroad so there is a slight possibility that it belonged to my great-grandfather, James Kelly.

I have actually worn both of the ladies pendant's. The older, smaller one belonged to my great-grandmother, Charlotte Hollington Berry Sanders. She was always called Lottie. This watch is very special to me because I was named for her. My father was named for her second husband, Harvey Harry Sanders although he always went by Harry. Grandpa Harry raised my grandfather and uncle after their father died and is the man I think of when referring to my great-grandfather. My actual great-grandfather, Joseph Berry, died in 1903. I also have the ring that Joseph gave Charlotte in 1893 that I do wear occasionally. When I damaged the ring I decided not to take any risks with the watch so I bought the other pendant to wear instead. It as no real or historical value and since it isn't worth fixing I should probably put it in the toy box for the girls to play with.

These are wonderful timepieces! This past summer I was able to go through similar pieces that my great-grandmother owned.

I also found a chatelaine purse that she would carry for fancy parties. It was a thin gold box like a cigarette box, with her initials on the front. Suspended from a chain handle, when opened it had a small mirror, an area to hold coins, a small square door for blush powder, and an ivory tablet and pencil.

Grandma said that as a young girl, when she went to a dance, she would write down the names of boys who asked her to dance on the tablet - hence, her "dance card." Full all the time - she was a looker at 6 feet tall and striking auburn hair!